THE GREEK ORTHODOX BELL AND INSTRUMENTAL TRADITION
S.G. TosinThis is the first attempt ever made when the author investigates the culture of bell-ringing in orthodox Greece. The purpose of the work is to define the features of this tradition. The article considers the following issues: the types of the Greek bell architectural constructions, their bell arsenal, national specifics of bell-ringing, and the characteristics of the orthodox bell ringing. The Greek tradition was developing under the strong influence of the Byzantine empire with its periods of blossom and decline and then Greece was invaded by crusaders (and later by the Turks) and those invasions resulted in the great influence of the Catholic church. These events defined its national peculiarity. Turning to the post-Byzantine region broadens the geography of research to the new to the Russian campanology direction. The facts which had been earlier unknown were collected by the author of the article in his expeditions to Greece. The publication of these facts is a contribution into the research database. In the long run it will help to trace the signs of influence of the Byzantium culture on the art of the Russian bell-ringing.